Career: Appearances in The Young Ones, Girls on Top and Happy Families followed, but it was the sketch show French and Saunders that propelled her to fame. One short skit in the series became the basis for Absolutely Fabulous. The sitcom's phenomenal global success opened new doors, and helped land Jennifer roles in the movies In the Bleak Midwinter, Spice World and Fanny and Elvis. She also voiced a not-so-good fairy godmother in hit animation Shrek 2 and stars in the BBC's Blandings. As well as the film and TV work, she has long been an active participant in the charity Comic Relief, alongside her on-screen partner Dawn French, and regularly takes part in the telethon events. We've also seen her reunited with her old pal in Jam & Jerusalem, which she wrote.

Career: Lumley's first film was 1969's Some Girls Do, followed by Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Her most notable early role was as Ken Barlow's girlfriend Elaine in Coronation Street. Lumley became famous thanks to The New Avengers in 1976. After Sapphire and Steel in the late 1970s, she turned her attention to the theatre and had a stint as a Times columnist. In 1992, Jennifer Saunders cast her as Patsy in sitcom Absolutely Fabulous. Since then, she has appeared in numerous TV dramas and films, including Maybe Baby, James and the Giant Peach, Jam & Jerusalem, Sensitive Skin, The Making of a Lady and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Career: She moved into comedy with a starring role in Absolutely Fabulous in 1992, and followed up this near-iconic role with parts in Martin Chuzzlewit, Kenneth Branagh's movie In the Bleak Midwinter and Lydia Bennet in the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In 2000, she had the major vocal role in Nick Park's animated caper Chicken Run, and she landed another significant part when she became the female lead in Jonathan Creek. Since then, she has favoured classic roles, winning rave reviews in Cranford and Lark Rise to Candleford.

Career: Whitfield became one of BBC Radio's most beloved stars - 22 million people regularly tuned in to her show Take It From Here during the 1950s - but is probably best known for her TV appearances, and has starred alongside Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers and Tony Hancock. Among her many comedy programmes during the first half of her career were Steptoe and Son, Hancock's Half Hour and The Benny Hill Show. Her long professional relationship with Terry Scott resulted in such series as Happy Ever After and Terry and June. She has also appeared in several Carry On films. Since then Whitfield has won acclaim in Absolutely Fabulous, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, Jude and Mirrorball.

Career: Lindsay's movie debut came in 1973's That'll Be the Day. His big break came in 1977 when he played would-be revolutionary Wolfie in John Sullivan's BBC sitcom Citizen Smith. After that he concentrated on serious roles. Theatre parts include Hamlet and Cyrano De Bergerac, but his biggest stage hit to date is musical Me and My Girl, for which he won numerous awards on both sides of the Atlantic. He made his Hollywood debut in the ill-received Bert Rigby You're a Fool in 1989, but Alan Bleasdale's TV series GBH put his career back on track. Since then, successes include Jake's Progress, The Wimbledon Poisoner, Brazen Hussies, Hornblower and My Family. More recently, he's starred in detective drama Jericho, played Tony Blair in A Very Social Secretary and The Trial of Tony Blair, traced his family on Who Do You Think You Are? and starred in Sky1 sitcom Spy.

Career: John's first solo album flopped in 1969, but its follow-up and the single Your Song were hits. Rocket Man in 1972 marked the beginning of an incredible run of success - 16 straight Top 20 hits (15 of which went Top 10). He has sold more than 250 million records worldwide. In 1994, he won an Oscar for Can You Feel the Love Tonight, from Disney's The Lion King. A version of Candle in the Wind became the world's best-selling single, raising more than £20million for the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. He has collaborated with Bernie Taupin on more than 30 albums, and continues to record and tour.